There were moments yesterday that seemed almost surreal. Linebackers Junior Seau and Rosevelt Colvin leaped from their living room couches into major roles. Cornerback Lewis Sanders saw action at inside linebacker in the base 3-4. Mike Wright nailed down the nose, while Le Kevin Smith held his ground at left end.

All were forced into action because of a dizzying number of injuries. Ty Warren watched the game in a sweatsuit. By halftime, Vince Wilfork, Tedy Bruschi and James Sanders had joined him.

And yet, somehow, some way, the Patriots rallied to beat the Seahawks, 24-21, and move into a three-way tie for first place in the AFC East with the Dolphins and Jets.

With three games to go, the division is up for grabs. And the Patriots may just have to hold open tryouts to make sure they have enough defensive players to get after it.

``If you can play, we're looking for you,'' said cornerback Ellis Hobbs. ``We're looking for you at every position. You might see me at rush end. We're just going to keep chugging away. It takes a patchwork to pull out these victories.''

The Patriots defense has been rightfully maligned for much of the season. It can't get off the field on third down. It can't get out of its own way in the red zone. The only big plays it's a part of involve chasing the other guys.

But yesterday after a horrendous start, the group came up big. The Seahawks scored touchdowns on their first two drives, then reached the end zone only once thereafter.

The game ended with Brandon Meriweather recognizing the Seattle snap count and practically beating the ball to quarterback Seneca Wallace for the strip sack that Richard Seymour recovered to clinch it.

``We haven't stopped teams when we've needed to this year,'' Seymour said. ``Obviously we haven't done what we expected to. We've given up too many big plays. We've given up more than we've wanted to. We haven't played to our potential. But anytime you have guys going down left and right and other guys coming in, it's important to get a win. That's what we did today.''

At this point, some perspective is in order. The Pats beat a 2-10 Seahawks team playing without its starting quarterback and four-fifths of its starting offensive line, including future Hall-of-Fame left tackle Walter Jones. Offensive juggernauts they are not.

But as Seymour noted, the Patriots have had trouble shutting down pretty much everyone when it mattered. So the way they won yesterday will get posted in the ``satisfying'' column, no matter the state of the Seahawks.

They turned things around by limiting their nickel and dime looks in favor of the base 3-4, with Wright on the nose and Smith at left end. The quick Wright actually turned out to be a tough matchup for Seahawks center Steve Vallos, a backup guard pressed into action by injuries.

Gashed for 96 rushing yards on 16 carries in the first half, the Pats stiffened in the second half and allowed just 48 yards, with 23 of them coming on a Wallace scramble.

``Whoa . . . Mike Wright's getting interviewed,'' Colvin joked afterward. ``Things really have changed around here.''

Equally as unexpected was Smith holding his own when the Seahawks tried running at him instead of Seymour.

``Whenever you're someone new that comes in the game, they're going to try you,'' Smith said. ``Hopefully I did my best to send them back to the other side.''

Smith and Wright were perfect examples of something Seau said before the game. Emotionally addressing the team, he said he wanted to see everyone play with the fire of undrafted free agents trying to make the team.

The Patriots may not have enough defense to finish the season, but for one afternoon at least, they duct-taped things together enough to keep themselves in the picture.

- jtomase@bostonherald.com